Biography of Eunice Sprague

Sprague, Eunice, p. o. Alexander, N. Y., is a daughter of William and Melissa (Hyde) Sprague, and was born in
Livonia, Livingston county, N. Y., May 24. 1815. She is a descendant on the maternal side from William Hyde, who
came from England in 1633 to Massachusetts, and in 1639 located in Saybrook, Conn.; through Samuel (2), born in
Hartford, Conn., in 1637; Samuel, jr. (3), born in Norwich, Conn., in 1665; Elijah (4), born in Lebanon, Conn.,
in 1705; Moses (5), born in Lebanon, Conn., September 11, 1751; Melissa (6), born in Connecticut, February 1, 1794;
Eunice (7), (the subject). Moses Hyde (5) married, in Connecticut, December 6, 1787, Sarah Hyde Dana, daughter
of Anderson and Susannah Huntington Dana; she was born September 30, 1763, and died November 5, 1854 Anderson Dana
was born in Connecticut and was a lawyer. He removed to Pennsylvania, where he lived six years. At the Wyoming
massacre he was killed, as was a son-in-law named Whiting. Mrs. Dana, his wife, after the battle went to her house,
a mile from the fort, and gathered such necessaries as she could carry and her husband's valuable papers, in momentary
fear that she might be killed; that night, with her children and one horse, in company with two other families,
she set out for Connecticut, picking her way through the woods by marked trees for fifty miles; after three weeks
of wearisome travel and much suffering they arrived in Connecticut. William Sprague and Melissa Hyde were married
in Middleburg, Schoharie county, N. Y., on April 1, 1810; they removed to Livonia, N. Y., in 1811, to Covington
in 1830, and to Alexander in 1848. William Sprague was born September 12, 1784 and died on May 1, 1862. and his
wife Melissa died on July 30, 1867, in Alexander. Their children were as follows: (1) Harry Sprague, born February
6, 1811, married Janet Scott on December 23 1840, and died December 18, 1886; he was a successful farmer, an honest
man, and highly respected by all who knew him; they had two Sons: Albert, born January 21, 1843, married Climena
Paine on December 20, 1874; and Edwin, born July 18, 1847, and now lives with his mother at the old home in Covington.
(2) Cynthia Sprague, born February 10, 1813, married Henry Watkins on April 2, 1832, and died October 17, 1831;
she was a true Christian woman, devoted to her family and always ready to help in any good work. Their children
were as follows: Nathan M. Watkins, born in Covington, N. Y., September 23, 1836, married Martha Gilmore on December
1, 1858, died May 21, 1892; and Mary M., born February 10, 1851, died August 26, 1869 -a dutiful daughter, greatly
mourned by her parents and friends. (3) Eunice Sprague. born May 24, 1815; she has never married, but devoted herself
to her parents as long as they lived. She still lives in the old home. For many years she lived alone, protected
by a faithful dog. (4) Lester Sprague, born in Livonia, September 7, 1819; he was graduated from Hobart College,
Geneva, N. Y., with the degree of M. D., and first practiced in Homer, Mich., and subsequently in Naples, N. Y.,
where he had a successful practice. October 25, 1843, he married Martha J. Lyon, and his death occurred on June
19, 1863, where he was beloved and mourned by many to whom he had ministered. The children of Lester and Martha
J. Sprague were these: William Lyon, born at Naples, July 27, 1849; graduated from Cornell University with the
degree of A. B. in 1873, and from Hobart College as A. M. in 1890; married Alice Everett of Dansville, N. Y., on
January 12, 1893; he was principal of Naples Union school from 1864 to 1869, instructor in Latin and Greek in the
State Normal School at Buffalo, 1889-96, and now has charge of public school No. 34 in Brooklyn, N. Y.; he has
a strong character and is a good representative of a long line of worthy ancestors; and Laura Eunice, born July
27, 1860, at Naples; she was graduated from Michigan University at Ann Arbor with the degree of Ph. B. in June,
1891, taught in the State Normal School at Buffalo several years, and is now in a ladies' school in Brooklyn, where
thirty-five teachers are employed. She is called a very successful teacher. (5) Drayton Sprague, born December
30, 1821, and married Cordelja Loomis November 15, 1854; he has been a successful farmer and has satisfactorily
filled various public offices in his town. He served as supervisor in 1870 and 1871. He possessed a decided taste
for music, and for several years led the church choir. In 1886 he was severely injured by an accident, and the
remainder of his life was filled with great suffering, borne with unfailing patience. He died in May, 1899. Carl
Drayton, only surviving child of Drayton and Cordelia Sprague, was born November 1, 1858; married Carrie Jane Lewis
February 24, 1886. They have one child, Clarence Leon, born November 9, 1889. (6) Elmer Sprague, born August 24,
1833. died in infancy. (7) George Sprague, born June 25, 1837; he received the degree of M. D. from Albany Medical
College, and during the Civil War enlisted as assistant surgeon in the 5th Ohio Cavalry, his first service being
at the battle of Pittsburg Landing; he was in active service for full three years. a portion of the time as surgeon
of his regiment. He was a skillful surgeon. In 1865 he settled in Alexander, where he died of diphtheria November
26 of the same year.

Source:
Our County and it's people
A descriptive work on Genesee County, New York
Edited by: F. W. Beers
J.W. Vose & Co., Publishers, Syracuse, N. Y. 1890